PB athlete signs with Buffaloes

A second Pine Bluff High School graduate this week officially committed to playing college baseball.

Second and third baseman David Carroll inked a letter of intent with Arkansas Baptist College on Friday, following his Babe Ruth league coach Sebastian Stargell Sr. to the Little Rock campus. Stargell was named the Buffaloes' head coach earlier this month.

A signing ceremony for Carroll was held at Taylor Field's Jim Hill Center, the same location where infielder and catcher Cason Blunt signed with South Arkansas Community College.

“David was great,” Pine Bluff Coach Ryan Stinson said. “Him and Cason were seniors and showed leadership. Anything you asked those guys to do, they did it. They worked hard. They were the guys who were going to come early and stay late. That type of attitude and mentality will always lead you far in this game of baseball and even in life.”

Carroll batted .412, slugged .588 and posted a .516 on-base percentage during a 5A-South All-Conference season as a senior. He hit one home run, drove in seven runs, scored 13 of his own and stole four bases.

He followed that up with a .312 batting clip in the Arkansas Baseball Collegiate League, the new summer collegiate league based at Taylor Field. He slugged .625 with a home run, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored.

“Hitting is everything,” Carroll said. “If you hit, you get in the lineup. The defense will come. Playing defense wins games.

“You have to stay consistent with your swing. Some games are going to be harder than others, but if you stick with your swing, everything will work out.”

Carroll also earned the Ed Brown Scholarship and Arkansas Baptist's Presidential Scholarship.

His signing even drew the presence of Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington, who like Carroll's father, Alfred Carroll, is a former educator in the Pine Bluff School District.

Alfred Carroll, who survived a stroke last July, called it a blessing to see his son get to play on the collegiate level.

“It's close enough that my wife and I can make the drive,” he said. “There were some other opportunities some hours away, but as this thing developed, he's close enough that we can make that drive.”

(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell) Pine Bluff High School graduate David Carroll (second from right) makes remarks Friday during his signing ceremony at Taylor Field’s Jim Hill Center. Carroll’s stepmother, Sharon Carroll (left); father, Alfred Carroll (second from left); and mother, Yaminah Holt, listen to his comments.